Hand-held amusement device with tethered ball and plural targets

ABSTRACT

A hand-held amusement device having a base member and a vertical support member arranged at substantially right angles to the base member. A plurality of basket-like containers are secured to one face of the support member in a prearranged pattern and numbered in correspondence with their degree of difficulty. A small ball is attached to a lower corner of the vertical support member by means of a string to restrain the ball to the vicinity of the toy. An elastic band is attached to the outer underside portion of the base member to enable the toy to be attached to the user&#39;&#39;s hand. In use, the ball is rested in the palm of the hand and hurled upwardly while at the same time the toy is manually maneuvered to attempt to catch the ball in a basket. For successful attempts, points are awarded on the basis of the basket number.

United States Patent 9 Grzybowski et al;

HAND-HELD AMUSEMENT DEVICE WITH TETHERED BALL AND PLURAL TARGETS [76] Inventors: Andrzej Grzybowski; Alicja Grzybowski, both of 340 Lake Merced Blvd. 8, Daly City, Calif.

22 Filed: Aug. 13, 1973' [21] Appl. No.: 387,896

[52] US. Cl. 273/97 R, 273/105 R [51] Int. Cl A63b 71/02 [58] Field of Search 273/97 R, 98, 105 R, 96 R,

[56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 1,134,822 5 1916 Caplette; 273/96 R 1,542,063 6/1925 Knight 273/105 R 1,781,717 11/1930 Bradtu, .(273/98 1,996,986 4/1935 7 Weinberg..... 273/105 R 2,042,984 6/1936 Fritz 273/97 R 2,224,962 12/1940 Hines m. 273/105 R v 2,455,185 11/1948 May 273/105R [111 3,825,262 [451 July 23,1974

Primary Examiner-Richard C; Pinkharn Assistant Examiner-Marvin Siskind Attorney, Agent, or Firm- -Townsend and Townsend ABSTRACT A hand-held amusement device having a base member and a vertical support member arranged at substantially right angles to the base member. A plurality of basket-like containers are secured to one face of the toy is manually maneuvered to'attempt to catch the ball in' a basket. For successful attempts, points are awarded on the basis of the basket number.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures HAND-HELD AMUSEMENT DEVICE WITH TETIIERED BALL AND PLURAL-TARGETS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to amusement devices. More particularly, this invention relates to hand-held toys for providing amusement and developing manual skills.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A hand-held toy for providing amusement and for assistance in the development of manual dexterity; A hasket support member is secured to a base member at substantially right angles thereto. A plurality of individual basket-like containers are secured to one face of the support member The containers are arranged in difficulty in catching a ball in 'the corresponding container.

In use, the toy is securedto the handby slipping the hand between elastic band and the bottomsurface -of base member 12. With" ball 16 arranged in the palm 'ofthe hand, the user attempts to hurl the ball into one of the basket-like containers 13-15 by thrusting the hand in the upward. direction and maneuvering the toy so that the ball drops in one of the containers 13-15.

a predetermined pattern and numbered in accordance with' their degree of difficulty. A game ball is attached to a lower corner of the support member by means of a string or other inelastic cord. An elastic band .is-secured to the base member and arranged along the underside thereof to enable the toy to be secured to the hand of a user.

In use, the toy is affixed to the hand and the ball is placed in the palm. The ball is then hurled upwardly and thetoy is manually maneuvered to attempt to cause the ball. to drop into one of the baskets. After each attempt, the ball is replaced in the palm of the hand before a new attempt is made. Points are awarded on the .basis of the difficulty with which the ballmay be.

caught in a givenbasket.

For a fuller. understanding'of the nature and advantages of the invention, reference should be had to the ensuing detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE'DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thepreferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the; embodiment of FIG. 1.

- DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-3 illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention. A basket support member 10 is secured to a base member 12 at substantially right angles thereto. Secured to one face 11 of support member 10 are apluralityof individual sufstantially identical basket-like containers 13-15. A

small game ball 16 having a diameter conformable with the inner diameter of containers 13-15 is attached to If the attempt is successful, a point value is-awarded in accordance with the degree of difi'rcultydesignated by the point value numbers 21-23 on face 11. Next, ball 16 is retrieved by rotating the hand until ball 16 drops out of the container The ball 16 is now replaced in the palm of the hand, and another attempt may be made. In all such attempts, string "18 prevents ball 16 from dropping to the floor. This aids in retrieving the ball to the palm of the hand.

Elements 10, 12, 13-15 and 16 may be constructed from any one of a numberof suitable materials. In the preferred embodiment, these elements are constructed of plastic and secured to' one another by glueing. In an actually constructed toy which has been found to operate effectively, base member 12 is-2 inches long, 2

inches wide and /3 inch thick, support member 10 is 3 Va inches high, 2 inches wide and-A; inch thick; containers l3-15have a top diameter of 6/8 inch, a bottom diameter. of 9/16 inch and a height of 1 1/ 16 inch. Container 15 is secured to support member 10 at distance 9/16 inch from the top edge and is laterally displaced 11/16 inch to the right of the vertical center line; and

ternate. constructions and equivalents may be employed without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example-containers 13-15 may be formed with linearly tapered walls in the form of an inthe lower left hand corner of support member 10 by means of a string 18 or other suitable cord-like tetheringdevice.

A-hand strap 20 constructed from an" elastic material is secured to the outer edges ofbase member 12'and arranged therebelow so that the toy may-be secured to one hand of the user.

As best depicted in FIG. 2, basket-like containers 13-15 are arranged in a predetermined pattern on front face 11 of support member 10. Point value numbers 2l-23are provided on face 11 adjacent the respective containers 13-15 which correspond to the degree of I "device comprising: I 'a base member having dimensions conformable with vertedtruncated cone. Therefore, the above description and illustrations should not beconst'rued as limiting the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed. is:

1. A hand-heldamusement device adapted to be se- 7 cured to a users hand and manually maneuvered, said the users" hand; I a support member securedto saidbase member at substantially right .angles thereto;

a plurality of basket-like containers secured to a faceof said support member in a prearranged pattern, said-pattern providing differing degrees of difficulty; I

a missile having a surface contour conformablewith said containers so that said missile may be received therein;

a-s'ubstantially inelastic cord secured at one endto said missile and secured at the other end to said support member for limiting the flight of said missile; and I an elastic strap secured to said base member and arranged'therebelow to enable the users hand to be inserted therebetween so that said device may be secured to the hand, whereby the missile may be placed in the palm of the users hand and hurled upwardly while manually maneuvering the device to catch the missile in one of the containers.

2., The device of claim 1 wherein said cord is attached to said support member at a lower corner thereof.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said support memher is a substantially rectangular sheet having a planar face.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein a first one of said containers is secured to said face at a location centered about the vertical center line thereof and wherein second and third-ones of said containers are vertically arranged above said first one of said containers and laterally spaced therefrom in opposite directions.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein the lateral spacing of said second and third ones of said containers is equal. 

1. A hand-held amusement device adapted to be secured to a user''s hand and manually maneuvered, said device comprising: a base member having dimensions conformable with the user''s hand; a support member secured to said base member at substantially right angles thereto; a plurality of basket-like containers secured to a face of said support member in a prearranged pattern, said pattern providing differing degrees of difficulty; a missile having a surface contour conformable with said containers so that said missile may be received therein; a substantially inelastic cord secured at one end to said missile and secured at the other end to said support member for limiting the flight of said missile; and an elastic strap secured to said base member and arranged therebelow to enable the user''s hand to be inserted therebetween so that said device may be secured to the hand, whereby the missile may be placEd in the palm of the user''s hand and hurled upwardly while manually maneuvering the device to catch the missile in one of the containers.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein said cord is attached to said support member at a lower corner thereof.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein said support member is a substantially rectangular sheet having a planar face.
 4. The device of claim 1 wherein a first one of said containers is secured to said face at a location centered about the vertical center line thereof and wherein second and third ones of said containers are vertically arranged above said first one of said containers and laterally spaced therefrom in opposite directions.
 5. The device of claim 4 wherein the lateral spacing of said second and third ones of said containers is equal. 